November 26, 2013

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford / Julian H. Gonzalez/DFP

By Jamie Samuelsen

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Which Detroit Lions team is the truer version: the one that started 6-3 or the turnover-machine that has lost their last two?

Are we really here once again, asking the same questions that we always seem to ask about this team?

The players are tired of answering them just as we’re tired of asking them.

But after one of the most confounding and frustrating losses in recent memory, we’re left wondering once again if the Lions are really that good. Are they the tough, talented team that pulled out victories on the road in Chicago, Cleveland and Washington and overwhelmed the Bears and Vikings at home? Or are they the team that gift-wrapped Sunday’s game for the Buccaneers and stumbled their way to a road loss the week before against the Steelers.

I know that many of you will simply throw up your hands and wonder why any of us believed in this team in the first place. “Same old Lions” was a popular refrain on the radio postgame show on Sunday afternoon and honestly, it’s hard to argue with that sentiment after what we saw on the field.

But for the record, the Lions are still 6-5, still in first place in the NFC North and still control their destiny with five games remaining. That easy second half schedule doesn’t seem so easy after the 2-8 Bucs moved to 3-8. But the fact remains that only one of the remaining five teams (Philadelphia) on the schedule has a winning record. I’m sure that makes you feel much better after what you witnessed against Tampa Bay.

There are issues on this team, just as there were when the Lions were 6-3. Some can’t be corrected. Others need to be, quickly.

The cornerback play just isn’t good enough. Chris Houston is supposed to be the premier corner on this team, but he still gets burned far too often, as he was Sunday. Rashean Mathis is a starter by default because rookie Darius Slay isn’t good enough to unseat him. Mathis was beat for a touchdown on Sunday and it looked like rookie Mike Glennon was picking on the veteran in the first half. The Lions allowed two more 40-plus yard pass plays Sunday, bringing their total to 12 on the season, tied for third-worst in the league. Unless the defensive line can increase the pressure on the quarterback, opposing teams will have big days against the Lions secondary. That’s not improving and I don’t see that it will this season.

But the secondary is less surprising and certainly less confounding than the play of quarterback Matthew Stafford. He sums up the Lions as a whole in one tidy package. He’s a microcosm of all the good and all the bad that this team possesses.

There is little doubt about the talent. There is little doubt about the upside. But there is serious doubt about the ability to put it all together.

Isn’t that an apt description of both the Lions and their quarterback?

For every fan that doesn’t want to believe in the Lions and insists that they’re not a playoff team, there are an equal number of fans that insist that Stafford is the same. He’s not an elite quarterback. He can’t win playoff games. And he’s not good enough to take the team to the next level.

I’ve always dismissed this talk for two reasons. First, Stafford’s not going anywhere and there’s little out there that would be a talent upgrade. Second, I have always assumed that Stafford’s play would improve each week and each season and that he’d eliminate the mistakes that he made as a rookie. I still strongly believe in the former. The latter? I’m starting to get a little concerned.

In his weekly “Monday Morning Quarterback” column on SI.com, Peter King named Stafford the “Goat of the Week” for his four-interception performance against the Buccaneers. King wrote, “Four interceptions against the Bucs, the third with the Lions driving for a potential 11-point lead. Detroit lost to the previously 2-8 Bucs. A bad day for the young gunslinger.” I agree with King’s views there, but when he wrote “young gunslinger,” I have to admit that it bugged me a little bit. How much longer are we going to excuse Stafford the indiscretions of youth? True, he’s 25 years-old. But he’s also in his third healthy year and fifth year overall as a starting quarterback in the NFL. It’s ironic that his younger counterpart on Sunday, Glennon, put together a quiet, composed win where he threw the ball for 247 yards and had a passer rating of 138.4. He did exactly what his team needed to win the game.

Stafford made some outstanding throws. His touchdown passes to Brandon Pettigrew and Joseph Fauria couldn’t have been placed any better. And his final interception to Calvin Johnson was not his fault, and was nicely thrown between two defenders. But in addition to his three other picks, he missed badly on throws to Johnson, Reggie Bush and Joique Bell. His passer rating was 61.6 even though he threw for more yards, more touchdowns and more completions than Glennon. Sunday required a Glennon-like performance and sometimes, Stafford seems incapable of delivering one of those.

Everything about Stafford is big. He’s got a big arm and big talent. He makes big throws and has engineered big comebacks. But he also makes big mistakes and at times can be a big disappointment. There’s an element of danger to Stafford that will always be there. That’s something that Lion fans will have to live with. But there’s also a level of maturation that has to happen. He has to know that the safety is playing centerfield on a deep throw to Johnson. And he has to know to let Pettigrew release a little further out as his safety valve when the pocket collapses.

The analysts on TV often say that the best throw a quarterback can make is to throw the ball away on third down. You live to play another set of downs, they say. Stafford does that, sometimes. He needs to do it more. The gunslinger needs to mature a little bit more quickly and cut down on the mistakes dramatically.

You could say the same thing for the Lions as a whole. If this team is going to win the NFC North and make some noise in the postseason, games like Sunday have to be a thing of the past. Both for the Lions and for Stafford.